Fare hike fails to appease striking jeepney drivers

JEEPNEY drivers protesting a government phase-out plan stranded commuters in Metro Manila and nearby provinces and forced schools to cancel classes on Monday.

NO GO Commuters at Monumento in Caloocan City wait in vain for a ride on Monday, with only a few jeepneys and UV Express vehicles on the road because of a transport strike. PHOTOS BY RENE H. DILAN

A decision to hike the minimum jeepney fare by P1.00 to P8.00 effective Wednesday, announced by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), did not appease the protesters from the Stop and Go transport coalition.

Paralyzed were jeepney routes going to and from Monumento in Caloocan City, Fairview in Quezon City, Santa Ana in Manila, Pasay City, Makati City, and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna.

The government deployed buses and trucks as early as 4 a.m. on Monday, offering free rides to the public.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority suspended the number-coding scheme for all public utility vehicles on Monday to meet the demand of commuters for rides.

Afternoon classes in all levels were suspended in Malabon and Manila. De La Salle University (DLSU), DLSU-College of St. Benilde, Collegio de San Juan de Letran, Far Eastern University and the University of Santo Tomas also cancelled afternoon classes.

The LTFRB vowed to hold Stop and Go members responsible for the disruption, threatening to suspend or cancel jeepney operators’ franchises.

Lawyer Aileen Lizada, LTFRB board member, said the agency had received reports that participants in the transport strike harassed jeepney drivers who skipped the protest.

“We got reports that they were throwing rocks at the C5-BCDA (Taguig City) area,” Lizada said in a television interview.

The LTFRB took the plate numbers of those who supported the transport strike. “Rest assured the LTFRB will do the necessary action to put order and to discipline the [jeepney drivers],” Lizada said.

Piston was unable to join the strike because of an organizational meeting for a wider nationwide protest, but some members did. Piston members held a rally in front of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) office on Monday morning.

“The strike today proves that the drivers are ready for a wider and more massive protest which Piston is preparing nationwide in the coming weeks,” Piston president George San Mateo told The Manila Times.

The Stop and Go Coalition had expected 74,000 jeepneys and thousands of UV Express vehicles nationwide to participate in the transport strike to protest the government’s order calling for the modernization and phase-out of dilapidated jeepneys.

The group said the planned DoTr order would deprive many drivers and operators of their livelihood, and was drafted without consultation.

Lizada said the transport group’s definition of a phase out was different from the LTFRB’s.

“We would like to refer to it as a modernization program. We phased out buses. Did the buses disappear from the roads? No. The buses are still there. We just upgraded the kind of buses,” she explained.

Lizada said the modernization of jeepneys could take one to three years.

2 Comments

The government’s program calling for modernization and phase-out of dilapidated jeepneys began few years ago and operators were given enough advanced notice. There will be so many operators that will be affected by this directives, and it is unfortunate, but modernization campaign must go on. You cannot modernize without phasing out the old vehicles and this type of initiative will help the environment and it should reduce the smog in the city, created by these very old busses and jeepneys. What the PISTON are doing is prolonging the agony of defeat, and they should understand that the government will not change its position on this issue. There will be few business minded Pinoys that have accumulated enough money to buy few modern jeepneys and couple of new busses, taking advantage of the situation now. If we have few thousands of this new Pinoy entrepreneurs, that can own small and medium business enterprises, the transportation problem, especially in Metro Manila will go away.

ALL motor vehicles should have a compulsory road worthiness test on an annual basis. This should be overseen by the LTO. The annual test would be done at authorised privately operated testing stations throughout the country. They would typically be garages where vehicle servicing is carried out. When I do the annual registering of my car here the only test is for exhaust smoke. What a joke seeing some of the old vehicles on the road pouring out black smoke, usually Public Service Vehicles in a terrible condition, often without proper lighting and bald tyres. Accidents waiting to happen.
I am from the UK where we have a good road safety record, partly due to good vehicle maintenance. A web search for the UK department of transport vehicle testing should provide more information.
Ensuring good vehicle maintenance and taking all the badly maintained vehicles off the roads will deprive some operators of their livelihoods BUT will save some people their lives. I will never forget the sight of a jeepney on its side on C5 with badly injured passengers all around.